Flintoff finds quick route away from humiliation

Zimbabwe 92 England 95-4 England win by 6 wickets

Requiring just 93 runs to defeat Zimbabwe and ensure a place in Saturday's NatWest Series final, England were in danger of falling to a humiliating defeat until Andrew Flintoff strode to the crease. His side were 25 for 4 and Heath Streak, the Zimbabwe captain, was looking like Richard Hadlee in his pomp as he exploited the bowler-friendly conditions at Bristol. Before Flintoff's arrival, survival had been the sole objective of the England batsmen and the 68 runs they needed looked some way off.

There to greet the Lanc-ashire all-rounder in the middle was the reassuring figure of the England captain, Michael Vaughan. They had a chat and the decision they came to proved the correct one. It took them only a further eight overs to secure the six-wicket victory which booked them into the Lord's final against South Africa in five days' time.

Vaughan had very little to do in his 70-run partnership with Flintoff, other than lean on his bat at the non-striker's end and look on in awe as his team-mate smashed the ball to all parts of the Nevil Road ground. Flintoff is yet to look the part in England's middle order. At 6ft 5in the 25-year-old is not built for nurdling the ball into the gaps and taking singles. His biggest asset is that he is one of the most powerful strikers of the ball in the game.

The pace bowler Andy Blignaut found this out when Flintoff clobbered his fourth over for 21 runs. It was off the same bowler that Flintoff finished the match with 32.1 overs to go. After two thumping fours he top-edged a hook that flew into the commentary box behind him for six. Such a spectacular finish was appreciated by a 12,600 crowd. That the game finished at 3pm and they had only 42 overs to watch during the day did not appear to bother them.

"I have a definite role batting at five in the side," said Flintoff, talking about his promotion from No 7 since the World Cup. "I am happy at five and I enjoy it. It is a new role for me and I have to find out what is the best way for me to play. Maybe a couple of times I have been caught between two stools but today I went in to be positive. I think I am at my best when I go out there to try and hit the ball with an aggressive attitude. The more games I play the better I will become at batting at five."

The most important decision of Vaughan's day was to call correctly at the toss. After packing his side with seamers - Stephen Harmison came in for Ashley Giles - he chose to bowl first on a pitch which has a reputation of being low and slow. This time, however, it was anything but. It was quick, bouncy and offering lateral movement to all of England's bowlers.

Zimbabwe's weak batting line-up had no answer to the hostile quintet, who exploited the conditions in an aggressive manner. The paltry total of 92 mustered by the visitors was the lowest by a Test-playing nation in one-day cricket in England since 1978, when Pakistan scored 85 at Old Trafford. This, however, was not Zimbabwe's worst display with the bat. That was 2001 when Sri Lanka dismissed them for 38. Chaminda Vaas took 8 for 19 and Sri Lanka reached the target in 4.2 overs.

James Anderson took the first wicket, Charles Coventry, who looked totally out of his depth during a tortuous 20-minute stay. But it was Darren Gough who was the chief destroyer with an opening eight-over spell of 4 for 22. Bowling up the hill, Gough enjoyed the juicy conditions and ruffed up Zimbabwe's top order with some well directed short balls.

Dion Ebrahim was the first of his victims, gloving a bouncer to Marcus Trescothick at slip. Travis Friend, an attacking player who has had some success batting at three, went to the last ball of the over and England had taken three wickets in eight deliveries. With Anderson struggling to control the swinging ball, Richard Johnson was introduced into the attack and took a wicket with his first ball.

The dismissals of Grant Flower and Heath Streak ensured that England would not be chasing a daunting score. Both fell to Gough, who at this stage was eyeing up career-best figures. With Zimbabwe on 51 for 7 after Johnson had claimed his second victim, Vaughan must have been tempted to bowl Gough through and the fact that he did not was probably a mistake as Stuart Matsikenyeri tucked into some loose stuff from Harmison.

After three overs from the Durham paceman, Gough was brought back but a three-wicket burst from Flintoff robbed him of only his third five-wicket haul. These scalps tipped the Man of the Match award in the direction of Flintoff. "This was the perfect situation for him to go out and play the way he did," said Vaughan of Flintoff's batting. "It eased all our nerves to have a player of his ability coming in and hitting boundaries. The way Freddie played was outstanding."

BRISTOL SCOREBOARD

England won toss

ZIMBABWE

D D Ebrahim c Trescothick b Gough 7

22 min, 22 balls

C K Coventry c Vaughan b Anderson 3

20 min, 10 balls

T J Friend c Read b Gough 4

7 min, 4 balls, 1 four

G W Flower c Read b Gough 1

33 min, 21 balls

ÝT Taibu c Trescothick b Johnson 5

20 min, 15 balls, 1 four

S Matsikenyeri b Flintoff 26

53 min, 35 balls, 2 fours

*H H Streak c Read b Gough 5

7 min, 5 balls, 1 four

S M Ervine c Clarke b Johnson 0

13 min, 11 balls

A M Blignaut c Clarke b Flintoff 17

37 min, 21 balls, 3 fours

R W Price c Read b Flintoff 0

3 min, 4 balls

D T Hondo not out 0

8 min, 5 balls

Extras (b1 lb3 w16 nb4) 24

Total (116 min, 24.5 overs) 92

Fall: 1-14 (Coventry), 2-14 (Ebrahim), 3-20 (Friend), 4-34 (Taibu), 5-39 (Flower), 6-45 (Streak), 7-51 (Ervine), 8-84 (Matsikenyeri), 9-84 (Price), 10-92 (Blignaut).

Bowling: Anderson 5-0-15-1 (nb1, w6) (one spell); Gough 9-1-26-4 (nb3, w2) (8-1-22-4, 1-0-4-0); Johnson 5-0-16-2 (w4); Harmison 3-0-18-0 (w4); Flintoff 2.5-1-13-3 (one spell each).

Progress: 15 overs score: 47-6. 50: 76 min, 99 balls.

ENGLAND

M E Trescothick c Friend b Streak 8

21 min, 11 balls

V S Solanki c Taibu b Streak 7

36 min, 23 balls, 1 four

R L Johnson c Coventry b Streak 0

2 min, 2 balls

*M P Vaughan not out 11

73 min, 34 balls, 1 five

A McGrath c Flower b Streak 1

9 min, 5 balls

A Flintoff not out 47

51 min, 37 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes

Extras (b2 lb2 w12 nb5) 21

Total (for 4, 98 min, 17.5 overs) 95

Fall: 1-20 (Trescothick), 2-20 (Johnson), 3-22 (Sol anki), 4-25 (McGrath).

Did not bat: R Clarke, ÝC M W Read, D Gough, S J Harmison, J M Anderson.

Bowling: Streak 9-3-21-4 (nb1, w2); Hondo 3-0-14-0 (w2); Blignaut 5.5-0-56-0 (nb4, w8) (one spell each).

Progress: 50: 70 min, 84 balls. 15 overs score: 67-4.

ENGLAND WON BY SIX WICKETS

Man of the match: A Flintoff.

Umpires: B F Bowden (NZ) and N A Mallender (Eng).

TV Replay Umpire: J W Lloyds.

Match Referee: C H Lloyd.

*Qualified for final